In some Democratic circles in Manhattan, shaking hands with a Republican is an act of heresy.

Melissa Sklarz, president of the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York, was attacked on her Facebook page after she posed for a photo with Rep. Peter King, the Long Island Republican, at Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s farewell holiday party at Police Plaza.

One commenter wrote, “Traitor!” Another said, “I hope you washed your hands afterward!” A third complained that King had expressed support for gay and lesbian rights when he was first elected, and wrote, “Over 25 years have gone by — he still votes against us!!”

One prominent Stonewall Democrat told me Sklarz and her club supported Rudolph Giuliani: “And now the organization’s president poses for a picture with the gay-hostile Congressmember Peter King.”